News and blog content extraction tutorial
Extracting content from news sites and blogs is essential for research, content aggregation, trend analysis, and data journalism. With ApiFrom, you can easily extract headlines, article text, author information, publication dates, and more without writing complex code.
In this tutorial, we'll show you how to extract article content from news websites and blogs using our powerful visual interface.
Follow this step-by-step guide to create APIs that automatically extract structured data from any news or blog website.
Create API configuration
Start by creating a new API configuration in your ApiFrom dashboard. This is where you'll define all parameters for your news/blog data extraction project.
Give your API a descriptive name such as "Tech News Articles" or "Financial Blog Posts" to help you identify the source and content type you're extracting.
Set the target URL
Enter the URL of the news site or blog you want to extract data from. News sites often use JavaScript to load content, so enable browser rendering to ensure all dynamic elements are properly displayed.
For sites with paywalls or requiring login, ApiFrom allows you to use custom headers and cookies. Simply copy them from your authenticated browser session to bypass these restrictions.
Clean the visualization
After ApiFrom loads the page, you'll see it displayed in our browser interface. News sites often contain ads, navigation menus, and other distracting elements that can interfere with data selection.
Use the cleanup tools to remove ads, cookie notifications, navigation bars, and sidebars. This creates a cleaner workspace focused only on the article content you want to extract.
Define your JSON structure
Now comes the core of your extraction setup. Use ApiFrom's visual selector to click on elements containing the data you want to extract, such as headlines, article body text, author names, publication dates, and category tags.
For each selected element, choose what to extract - plain text for article content, href attributes for related links, or src attributes for images. ApiFrom automatically builds your JSON structure as you select elements, letting you create a comprehensive data model of the article content.
Generate the JSON response
After defining your data structure, generate a preview of the JSON response to see exactly what your API will return. This live preview allows you to verify that all content elements are being extracted correctly.
You can refine your selections until the JSON output perfectly matches your requirements - adding fields for missing information or removing unwanted data. The preview updates in real-time so you can immediately see the effects of your changes.
Copy and use the curl command
Once you're satisfied with your API configuration, ApiFrom generates a ready-to-use curl command that you can integrate directly into your applications, data pipelines, or content aggregation systems.
This command includes all necessary parameters and authentication tokens, making it simple to execute API calls from any programming language or tool. You can schedule these calls to run automatically, enabling you to build real-time news aggregation services, content monitoring tools, or data journalism platforms.
Common Use Cases for News & Blog Extraction
Content Aggregation
Build news aggregators that pull content from multiple sources into a single platform. Create specialized feeds focusing on specific industries, topics, or regions.
Media Monitoring
Track brand mentions across news sites and blogs. Monitor industry trends and competitive intelligence for business insights.
Research & Analysis
Gather content for sentiment analysis, topic modeling, and other natural language processing applications. Track changes in reporting or narrative over time.
Content Archiving
Create archives of important articles that might be removed or placed behind paywalls. Build personal knowledge bases from scattered online resources.
Ready to extract news and blog content?
Start extracting valuable news and blog content from news websites and blogs today with ApiFrom's intuitive visual scraping tool. No coding required!